[Ansteorra] Courtesy challenge

[Marc Carlson]

>Sir Lyonel Oliver Grace sirlyonel at hotmail.com
>...Now, please understand, I am not validating such behavior. This is one 
>of those disconnects between now and then that we can't fully embrace in 
>the SCA. We'd all have to have enough money to afford to hire servants and 
>bring them to events. Instead, I think we're better off taking the more 
>modern view of courtesy and offering to carry things.

And just to be clear, neither am I suggesting that people should or ought to 
behave in one manner over the other.  I'm just stuck with this programming 
glitch that says when someone says X is historically accurate, and I know 
that Y is, I have to explain Y.  How people chose to behave is up to them, 
and far too often "being period" is used as an excuse for being a shmuck, 
when some simple common courtesy might have been better.

That being said, if*I* see someone working, I will almost always help if 
asked; and if it looks serious, I may proactively ask if they want some 
help, but I was raised to believe that it's rude to force my help on others. 
  And it's definately wrong to do it as a major public action, since it 
draws attention to their pervceived weakness.  Do I expect others to follow 
these standards?  Don't be silly - most people had normal upbringings :)

We have to make these choices for ourselves.

Marc/Diarmaid